I don’t mind if you’re critical of Nintendo, and I don’t mind if you’re critical of Japan. I quite like both, but also of course realize there are things about them that are perfectly valid to criticize. Furthermore, even if I don’t think something is valid to criticize, who am I? Who would I think I am that I have some sort of ability to judge the worth of what people are criticizing? I don’t. You don’t. We don’t. People can criticize things. It’s all good. The world keeps turning.
However, for whatever reason, I have found that it can irritate me to no end how people criticize Nintendo or Japan.
The main issue is there seems to be an underlying theme that both are severely irrational and if they ever step out of line, well, they need some colonials to tell them how the world works. This is the impression I usually get with how some people criticize. Please note colonials is my word for them, not how they self-identify. Their pith hats are figurative.
The recent example of this is the criticism of Nintendo making a cheaper version of the Switch 2 exclusively for the Japanese market, and how they avoided having scalpers with the intention of selling it overseas be interested in it. They did this by region locking it.
Kind of a kick in the pants to me, but hey, it makes sense.
First, no no, they don’t see it as a cheaper Japanese version, it’s obviously a more expensive foreign version. It’s not about scalpers, it’s about the plight of the foreigner living in Japan.
And by foreigner in Japan, we of course mean the native English speaker, and for some, we of course mean the American. Never mind that the majority of foreigners in Japan are not native English speakers, and are most definitely not Americans, and never mind this isn’t about combating anything about foreigners living in Japan at all, it is most definitely all about you the complainer. You are entitled to more, and Japan is not giving it to you.
As I said above, this is a kick in the pants to me too. I would love to be able to pay the cheap Japanese price for a Switch 2 that plays games in English too. I play the majority of games in Japanese, but there are some games I prefer to play in English, or at least have that option. Metroid for example, I much prefer English. Metal Gear Solid? I want English. Indie game that has a horrible Japanese translation? English please. Indie game with an amazing Japanese translation that I cannot fully appreciate? (i.e. Undertale/Deltarune): I will be choosing English. Everything else under the Goddamn sun? Japanese is lovely, thank you very much.
So you can let people know the expensive “American Switch 2” is the same price as other countries. When they run to American prices, you can remind them that American prices don’t include tax. (I’m not sure if Americans tip for electronics yet, but I don’t think so.)
There probably isn’t a point mentioning how much places like Brazil or Southeast Asia pay for games, and how expensive that is compared to wages there. There’s also no point in mentioning how tariffs affect countries that aren’t America. No one is listening. Nintendo needs to be taught a lesson.
There are complaints that the rest of the world is subsidizing the Japanese market. The only response to this is a reminder that Nintendo is not a government, and they are a company playing the game of capitalism. They are doing what they are doing because they believe it is what will make them the most money in the long run. There’s also that this imbalance seems to only be conveniently realized when it is in favor of the other. As a university professor I had once said, no one had ever came to her because she marked someone too high by mistake, only too low.
What I’m trying to say is there are reasons for things and the assumption of irrationality and the need to bring Nintendo or Japan down a peg so they conform to how you believe things should work is a bit much. Annoying, some may even say.
Now let’s look at a photo from I am guessing 2014 where I was amazed to play Secret of Mana (in Japanese) portably on a Wii U while having some tea with soy milk and honey in my apartment’s tatami room.
Klingsor's First Winter 